In the manufacture of beverages, such as beer, it is most desirable to use the by-products remaining after the beverage has been made in some commercial process. In the beer industry, a commercial process has developed in the pelletizing of the spent grain, screenings, sprouts, diatomaceous earth and syrup into pellets for cattle feed. In a conventional pelletizing system, the dry products are combined with the syrup and heated by steam in a mixer-conditioner into a granular product. This granular product is then fed into a mill which converts the granular product into pellets. After the pellets have been formed, they are deposited into a shaker-cooler in which a level of formed pellets is maintained. Cool air is drawn through the formed pellets in the shaker-cooler so that the formed pellets leave the shaker-cooler at the desired temperature. In one commercial operation, the pellets leaving the shaker-cooler are periodically sampled for moisture content and when necessary, the operator makes adjustments to the syrup feed or steam feed or both. A problem associated with this system of moisture control is the time lapse from the mixer-conditioner to the exit of the shaker-cooler. Therefore, there is no assurance that the existing conditions in the mixer-conditioner have remained the same when the adjustments are being made.